Officially launching the charging stations today, Parliamentary Secretary for Energy Reece Whitby, met with the founder of the Plug Me In project Wiebe Wakker, who visited the Bentley office and plugged in his electric vehicle.

Since 2016, Wiebe has been travelling from the Netherlands to Australia in an electric car. With no money exchanged, he has relied on donations of accommodation, food, and most importantly, electricity.

Horizon Power was happy to gift Wiebe free electricity as he travelled between Kununurra and Derby in the Kimberley earlier this year.

Wiebe made use of three new charging stations which Horizon Power installed at Halls Creek Service Station, Fitzroy Crossing Roadhouse and Warmun Roadhouse.

These charging stations service the 900 kilometre stretch of Great Northern Highway between the towns, meaning electric vehicles can now travel around the entire perimeter of Australia.

Having made it to Perth, Wiebe said he’s in no rush to complete the final leg of his journey.

“It’s my goal to promote sustainability and I want to take my time for that,” he said, adding he had enjoyed giving presentations to companies, universities and embassies around the world to share the sustainability message.

Mr Whitby said he was pleased Horizon Power was making the charging stations available to the public.

“There is so much change occurring in the energy industry and while electric vehicles are small in number now, they are going to be a big part of our future,” he said.

There are around 4,000 electric vehicles on the roads in Australia. Electric vehicles can have a limited range due to their need to be recharged, but charging up is easy. Vehicle owners simply plug in to the power source instead of filling up with petrol.

A 22 kilowatt charger – like those installed by Horizon Power –typically provides an electric vehicle with 100 kilometres of charge for every hour of charging.

Fact file

Horizon Power’s two new charging stations are located at 18 Brodie Hall Drive in Bentley, and are free for anyone with an electric vehicle to use.

The cost of running a standard electric vehicle (or EV) is the equivalent of just 33 cents per litre.